Downtown L.A.

* Your article of Jan. 9 "Downtown Shoppers Put Watchfulness High on List" is misleading and reinforces a misperception that Downtown Los Angeles is a high-crime area. The opposite is true. Downtown is the safest part of the city according to statistics from the Los Angeles Police Department.

While we regret that the two children were abducted while their parents were Downtown, these incidents in no way reflect the overall safety of Downtown streets. In fact, Los Angeles has one of the safest downtowns of any major U.S. city according to FBI crime statistics.